`Father of fen-phen' guilty on 34 counts

Pietr Hitzig, the self-described "father of fen-phen," was convicted Monday of illegally prescribing the drug over the Internet to patients he never saw.

Hitzig, 58, was found guilty of all 34 charges. He faces up to 100 years in prison at sentencing.

Prosecutors said hundreds of patients around the world obtained drugs like fen-phen from Hitzig after visiting his Web site and sending him requests by e-mail.

Hitzig was charged with distributing medicine to 12 patients, two of whom were undercover agents.

Prosecutors described Hitzig as a doctor seeking fame without regard for his patients. They said Hitzig prescribed fen-phen "for every illness known to mankind," alleging he could treat Gulf War syndrome, chronic fatigue, alcohol and drug addictions, as well as cure AIDS and cancer.

Fenfluramine, the "fen" half of the combination, was pulled off the market in 1997 amid concerns that it scarred heart valves irreversibly and sometimes fatally.